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Tag Archive: Robert Hack


The borg.com Best of 2017–The Best in Print

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes — Leave a comment
December 29, 2017

Our borg.com Best of 2017 list continues today with the Best in Print.  If you missed them, check out our review of the Best Movies of 2017 here, the Kick-Ass Heroines of 2017 here, and the Best in Television here.

So let’s get going.  Here are our selections for this year’s Best in Print:

Best New Edition of Previous Published Work – The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame, David Petersen (IDW Publishing).  David Petersen’s artwork was the perfect excuse to get Kenneth Grahame’s wonderful classic The Wind in the Willows into the hands of new readers.  The new edition from IDW Publishing was the perfect storybook, and Petersen, known best for his Mouse Guard series, showed his understanding of these characters and their natural world full of wonder through his fantasy images.

Best Read, Best Retro Read – Forever and a Death, Donald E. Westlake (Hard Case Crime).  Not every good idea comes to fruition.  Not every excellent project gets off the ground.  Not every great book gets published.  The Hard Case Crime imprint of Titan Books came through again, seizing the opportunity to take a lost, never before published work of Donald E. Westlake--Forever and a Death--and brought it to life.  And what a great adventure!  Originally the story commissioned to be the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, the projected was shelved, and only now do we get fantastic characters (like environmental activist and diver Kim Baldur) in a very Bondian situation–destroying Hong Kong as payback for China taking it back from Great Britain.  Honorable mention for Best Retro Read: Turn on the Heat, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Dragon Teeth, Michael Crichton.

Best Sci-Fi Read – Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom: A Novel of Retropolis, Bradley W. Schenck (Tor Books).  Imaginative, new, and fun, Schenck took us into a timeless world full of nostalgia and classic science fiction.  Great tech, and a sprawling story.  Interesting characters and great world-building, this novel will be a great surprise for sci-fi readers.  Honorable mention: War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations, Greg Keyes.

Best Fantasy Read – An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors, Curtis Craddock (Tor Books).  The plot of this debut novel is labyrinthine and action-packed, full of assassination attempts from all quarters, courtly intrigue galore, grandiose philosophies, and a cast of characters anchored by the strong, smart, resourceful, and eminently likeable heroes.  Supporting everything is Craddock’s strong, confident, often-funny, and sharply observant writing that goes from heart-wrenching to hilarious on a single page without missing a beat.  A dazzling debut.

Best Genre Non-fiction – Middle-Earth: From Script to Screen, Daniel Falconer (Harper Design).  We wish every genre franchise had such a magnificent, thorough, monumental guide.  Falconer’s guide to Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies is full of interviews at all levels of the creative process, and supported by concept art, photographs, maps, and so much more.  Worthy of the six films it covers, it’s the ultimate fan book and a model for any franchise attempting to put everything fans could want into a single volume.

There’s much more of our selections for 2017’s Best in Print and more, after the jump…

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Preview–The Batman meets The Shadow with an artist showcase of cover variants in new series

Filed under: Comics & Books, Retro Fix, Superheroes — Leave a comment
October 4, 2017

  

The Silent Seven–a mysterious crime organization from the 1920s-30s, from the time of Miss Fury and… The Shadow?  Batman and Robin encounter Professor Pyg and his transforming “Dollotron” masks as the villain crashes a New Year’s Eve party.  This is the Robin named Damian, Bruce Wayne’s son, a 13-year-old raised by assassins.  Batman must forge a relationship with his son as The Shadow appears out of the past and looking for answers.

DC Comics and Dynamite Comics have partnered for a blend of the past and the present as Batman and The Shadow collide in a new crossover series, arriving at comic book shops today with The Shadow/Batman Issue #1.  The Shadow: The World’s Greatest Mystery.  The Batman: The World’s Greatest Detective.  What if they encounter The World’s Greatest Evil?  As they protect New York, and ancient evil surfaces.  Can they work together to save their city?

Writer Steve Orlando (Batman/The Shadow, Justice League of America), artist by Giovanni Timpano (The Shadow, Transformers), and colorist Flavio Dispenza (Eclipse), come together to craft an action-filled noir story and a crossover of worlds and characters forged in comics’ Golden Age.  DC Comics’ key hero and Dynamite’s classic pulp character are an obvious team-up opportunity.

  

Check out a preview of Batman/The Shadow, Issue #1, below courtesy of the publishers, as well as a look at another giant release of variant covers–a showcase of comic art talent–from Issues #1 through #3:

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Previews–New issues of Mirror Broken, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina arrive at comic book stores today

Filed under: Comics & Books, Sci-Fi Café, TV — Leave a comment
August 16, 2017

   

Captain Jellico and an over-the-top Wesley Crusher join the crew of the Enterprise-D and get to play in the world of daggers, sashes, and deception with today’s release of the third issue of IDW Publishing’s limited comic book series Star Trek: The Next Generation–Mirror Broken.  Plus, for the second consecutive month of a series usually only issued sporadically, Archie Comics’ Archie Horror imprint is releasing the eighth issue of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.  We have previews of both issues below for borg.com readers, courtesy of their publishers.

The creative brother team of David Tipton and Scott Tipton continue the Mirror Universe adventures of the Star Trek: The Next Generation era with another round of beautiful pages by J.K. Woodward in Mirror Broken’s next installment.  Look for the standard cover by Woodward and great variant covers by Tony Shasteen and George Caltsoudas.  This time Woodward has created a look for Wesley Crusher that will appeal to both lovers and haters of the classic sci-fi series’ obligatory child character.  Get prepared to see who wins and who loses in the ultimate strategy battle between Picard and Jellico.  And Trek fans should always check every corner of each panel for hidden throwback gems from the TV series.

   

In Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, comic book writer and show runner of the CW’s Riverdale,  and artist Robert Hack continue to take Sabrina down a darker path than the character has ever experienced.  Sabrina has returned Harvey from the dead, but at what price, and will anyone be able to stop what has been unleashed before it’s too late?  The creative team continues to flesh out the personality of Riverdale’s timeless teenage witch, blending a young heroine’s tale with equal parts Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed.  Plus Hack’s classic pulp horror comic imagery gets better with each new issue.

Check out these previews for Star Trek: The Next Generation–Mirror Broken, Issue #3, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Issue #8: Continue reading →

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Fans turn Archie Comics’ Jughead: The Hunger into new ongoing series

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July 14, 2017

   

If you loved CW’s new Riverdale series as much as we did, then you probably have a new appreciation for Archie’s pal Jughead Jones.  The classic Jughead has always had an insatiable appetite, practically living at the Riverdale diner.  Earlier this year Archie Comics’ Archie Horror imprint–the folks that brought us the brilliant otherworld series Afterlife With Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina–took Jughead to a dark place and asked: What if Jughead’s hunger came from a sinister place?  The result was the one-shot comic book issue, Jughead: The Hunger. 

Writer Frank Tieri (Wolverine) and artist Michael Walsh (Secret Avengers) teamed-up and delivered a new Jughead whose ancestry was full of werewolves.  Unknown to most of his friends, Jughead was the “Riverdale Ripper,” murdering townies one by one, including poor Miss Grundy.  But the biggest surprise was Betty Cooper, who hailed from a line of werewolf hunters.  Where we last left Archie and his friends, Jughead had left town.  And Betty was on his trail.

    

Usually one-shots hit the comic book stores, maybe get a reprint.  But this week Archie’s new Madhouse imprint revealed the surprise return of Jughead: The Hunger as a new ongoing series.  “We purposely left the door open with the one-shot, we told you if you made Jughead: The Hunger a hit we’d make more– and since you more than held up your end of the bargain– here we are,” said writer Frank Tieri.  “Fans can expect more of everything they loved about the one shot now as we expand our universe–more werewolf Juggie, more bad ass Betty, more conflicted Archie and more twists and turns than you can shake a severed arm at.”

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Preview–Jughead enters the dark world of Archie Horror in new one-shot

Filed under: Comics & Books, Fantasy Realms, Retro Fix — Leave a comment
March 20, 2017

If you’re enjoying CW’s new Riverdale series as much as we are, then you probably have a new appreciation for Archie’s pal Jughead Jones.  The classic Jughead has always had an insatiable appetite, practically living at the Riverdale diner.  Actually we wouldn’t be surprised to see him move into the back of the joint on the television series since he lost his home at the drive-in theater, which recently closed.  This month Archie Comics is taking Jughead to a dark place and asks: What if Jughead’s hunger came from a sinister place?

When a murderous menace is on the prowl, taking the lives of some of the most well-known and esteemed inhabitants of Riverdale, Jughead and his family’s dark legacy comes to light. 

It’s Jughead: The Hunger.  It’s a story that will be a prime target for fans of the successful and popular series Afterlife With Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

   

Writer Frank Tieri (Wolverine) and artist Michael Walsh (Secret Avengers) team-up for an oversized Archie Horror one-shot.  Check out this preview courtesy of Archie Comics:

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Previews–Charmed and Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys series begin tomorrow

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March 7, 2017

   

Tomorrow two classic franchises will take the form of comic book series as Dynamite Entertainment releases the first issues of Charmed and Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie. 

Inspired by recent noir comic book series like Ed Brubaker’s Fatale and Darwyn Cooke’s Parker series, Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie writer Anthony Del Col (Assassin’s Creed, Kill Shakespeare) and artist Werther Dell’Edera (Detective Comics, House of Mystery) are bringing the classic teen detectives into the 21st century.  Yet it has a very Archie Comics vibe.  In the new series, Frank and Joe Hardy are accused of murdering their father, a detective, and they enlist Nancy Drew to help prove their innocence–and find the real murderer.  The series promises a “twisting, hard-boiled tale, complete with double-crosses, deceit and dames,” keeping with the noir crime setting.  Look for cover variants Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie from Faye Dalton, Emma Vieceli, and Robert Hack.

Before the series Supernatural would take over the genre spot for the next decade, the three Halliwell sisters, Prue (Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) provided a similar weekly fix of the paranormal, the mythic, the magical, and the Wiccan.  Following the death of Prue in the finale of Season 3, their long-lost half sister Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan) assumed Prue’s role within the “Power of Three,” and a new comic book series will continue the story of these three sisters.  The second longest running hour-long television series featuring all female leads, Charmed aired 178 episodes over eight seasons.  The next episodes will take the form of a Charmed monthly comic featuring writer Erica Schultz (Swords of Sorrow) and artist Maria Sanapo (Grimm, DC Comics Bombshells).  Artist Joe Corroney (Star Wars, Star Trek) will provide the cover art to Issue #1, and Sanapo will draw the monthly covers and interior artwork.

Check out previews of Issue #1 of both new series, including variant covers, after the break, courtesy of Dynamite Entertainment:

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Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys get the noir treatment in new series

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February 15, 2017

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The next noir crime drama may come as a surprise: It’s Dynamite Entertainment’s new throwback series Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys.  Inspired by recent noir comic book series like Ed Brubaker’s Fatale and Darwyn Cooke’s Parker series, writer Anthony Del Col (Assassin’s Creed, Kill Shakespeare) and artist Werther Dell’Edera (Detective Comics, House of Mystery) are bringing the classic books and 1970s team-up television series into the 21st century.  It looks to have the vibe of CW’s new Riverdale television series update to Archie Comics, including that show’s Twin Peaks aura.

The Hardy Boys stories and Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series were first published in 1927 and 1930 respectively and continued for 75 years.  Created by Edward Stratemeyer, but ghost written by Mildred Wirt Benson and hundreds of writers over the decades, the books followed teenaged brother sleuths, Frank and Joe Hardy, and a young heroine detective, Nancy Drew, whose strong character has been cited as a personal influence by Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Sonia Sotomayor, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

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In the new series, Frank and Joe Hardy are accused of murdering their father, a detective, and they enlist Nancy Drew to help prove their innocence–and find the real murderer.  The series promises a “twisting, hard-boiled tale, complete with double-crosses, deceit and dames,” keeping with the noir crime setting.

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CW releases better look at Riverdale series, Archie & the Gang, and murder

Filed under: Comics & Books, Fantasy Realms, Retro Fix, TV — Leave a comment
December 23, 2016

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In the latest ads for CW’s new teen series Riverdale, the live-action series looks even more like an updated Twin Peaks than in the initial teaser trailer.  CW’s television adaptation of the 75-year-old Archie Comics characters and hometown is only weeks away.  More and more we’re thinking the series has the look and feel of the Archie Comics’ recent successful expanded universe in its Afterlife with Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series.  Let’s face it–if the new television series really were to look like the monthly comic book, which has run relatively unchanged for its 75-year span, it would basically be a remake of Happy Days. 

However CW’s Riverdale turns out, our fingers remain crossed that we’ll see the infamous Sabrina drop in as a guest star or that the writers will find a way to incorporate at least a good Halloween episode.  Zombies, anyone?  Another classic franchise family, Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, are getting their own update next year when Dynamite Comics releases a new monthly series adaptation with a noir, true crime twist: Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie.  The common theme seems to be bringing back the classics, but trying to spin them in a way to make them appeal to current audiences, which is nothing really new as adaptations go.

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The first full-length trailer and a second teaser for Riverdale were both released this week. Every classic property should get the CW teen soap opera treatment like Riverdale and Smallville and all the great DC Comics series currently running.  The shows may not be entirely loyal to the source materials, but you can bank on some interesting characters and well-told stories ahead.

Check out this first extended trailer for Riverdale:

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First look–Riverdale, CW’s teen Twin Peaks series gets a teaser, plus new comic tie-ins coming

Filed under: Comics & Books, Fantasy Realms, Retro Fix, TV — Leave a comment
November 29, 2016

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In the first trailer for CW’s Riverdale, the live-action series looks more like an updated Twin Peaks than the classic comic book.  But what a way to make an update!  How will we know if Riverdale is a success?  CW’s television adaptation of the nearly 80-year-old Archie Comics universe is only weeks away.  Yet if you look back on your favorite teen television shows you may find writers and casting agents have been pulling from the Archie playbook before.  Just take a look back at Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Who was a better Jughead than Xander?  And did you ever see the original best frenemies Betty and Veronica in the love-hate relationship of Buffy and Faith?  What about the dynamic of the leads in CW’s previous successful teen-driven, comic book series Smallville?  Will Archie Comics’ own tried and tested formula prove to make Riverdale a keeper?

However CW’s Riverdale turns out, our fingers are crossed that we’ll see the infamous Sabrina drop in as a guest star or that the writers will find a way to incorporate at least a good Halloween episode banking on the success of the publisher’s recent Afterlife With Archie series.  What sure-fire way to please a current audience than delivering a zombie episode?

Riverdale -- "Pilot" -- Image Number: RVD101g_0002.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): KJ Apa as Archie and Lili Reinhart as Betty -- Photo: Katie Yu/The CW -- © 2016 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

The first teaser for Riverdale dropped this week.  Although it doesn’t give us much, we get a look at the characters and a glimpse of the creepy tone of the show–a very CW teen-focused looking series.  These kinds of shows have proven to be CW’s niche realm, along with its recent success with superheroes in its five DC Comics series: Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, iZombie, and Supergirl. 

Check out this first teaser for Riverdale:

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Josie and the Pussycats get new monthly series with plenty of variant covers

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September 21, 2016

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Next week Riverdale’s most famous band is getting back together.

Archie Comics is releasing a new Josie and the Pussycats monthly series.  Much like its release of its hit Betty & Veronica series this summer, Josie & Co. is getting a premiere with plenty of cover variants with works by J. Scott Campbell, Derek Charm, Colleen Coover, Veronica Fish, Francesco Francavilla, Jessica Garvey, Robert Hack with Steve Downer, Gisele Lagace with Shouri, Alitha Martinez with Kelly Fitzpatrick, Wally McNair, Sam Payne, and Marguerite Sauvage.  The standard cover was drawn by Audrey Mok.  Andre Szymanowicz is providing the colors.  Archie Comics will also release a blank sketch cover version.

Marguerite Bennett and Cameron Deordio are scripting the series.

Josie, Valerie, and Melody make their current debut after Afterlife With Archie’s dark look at the band in the haunted parallel universe of that title’s October issue.  Plus, the CW Network has its own new Archie series premiering in only a few weeks–Riverdale stars K.J. Apa as Archie, Cole Sprouse as Jughead, Camila Mendes as Veronica, Lili Reinhart as Betty, Ross Butler as Reggie, Casey Cott as Kevin, and Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom.  And of course, the band is in the series as well, with Josie played by Ashleigh Murray, Valerie is played by Hayleau Law, and Melody is played by Asha Brom.  Luke Perry, Lochlyn Munro, and Madchen Amick will also star in the series.

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While you’re waiting for the TV series, check out these covers to Josie and the Pussycats: 

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